In the days before the departure of over 100 newsroom staffers, executive editor Leonard Downie Jr. and managing editor Phil Bennet assured employees via an internal memo that The Washington Post will "remain engaged in impactful journalism" and channel "reporting sources into coverage that matters most."

The departing staffers, who plan to take the paper's buyout, were among 230 staffers of the newsroom's 700-plus staffers eligible for the plan.

The memo stated: "The rest of us are entering a new phase in our transformation of the newsroom to meet the challenges facing us as an industry, as a news organization and as journalists."

The memo also highlighted future plans for the Post newsroom, including "accelerating the process of structural change" and "refining the editing model."   

Downie's future at The Post is also up in the air. The memo makes no mention of the final destination for the 66-year-old newsroom boss, director of the newspaper since 1991.

Source: Editor & Publisher